[Harlan]

Hi,
Not sure if this is the place for this question or if I'm using the right terms. I'm working on an old upright Philco
and wanting to improve on the condition of the "dial" surface. Here I don't mean the glass dial with the numbers
on it, I mean the metal plate behind it on the radio chassis on which the pointer moves back and forth.

The original surface is like a dark brown flocking textrue and has worn thin in places with bare spots in others.
It is entirely flat except at the one end is an extruded portion with 4 slots which allow dial light behind to
illuminate which band has been selected.

Well I am wondering what the most practical way is to restore this flock like surface. I'm assuming I should
first try to remove all of the old material. Then is there some one step process of maybe spraying on a new
flocked surface or does it require more work than that?
What options might there be and what products and web sites might be a source for the material?

Thanks very much,
Harlan

[BDM]

I would remove it completely. Save a piece, and match it up at a fabric supply shop. You could use many type of adhesive to re-apply it.

[Syl]

Well I am wondering what the most practical way is to restore this flock like surface. I'm assuming I should
first try to remove all of the old material. Then is there some one step process of maybe spraying on a new
flocked surface or does it require more work than that?
What options might there be and what products and web sites might be a source for the material?

Thanks very much,
Harlan

Here's what I did on an RCA:

I removed the plate and cleaned the old flocking under running hot water using a blunt knife.
Since I didn't want to go the trouble of re-flocking, even though I have the kit to do it as I
re-flock my own phono platters, I used a thin felt sheet from the dollar store (the RCA is a light brown).

Apply contact cement only on the dial plate. Wait a few minutes (just long enough to get it tacky to the touch)
then apply the felt. As good as re-flocking.

Syl

[Harlan]

Hey Brian,
Thanks for the idea.
I actually went to a craft store and bought a sheet of "crushed velvet card stock" They didn't have one in brown so I
got a white sheet. A felt tipped marking pen could have worked to color it but couln't find a brown. So took a can
of "camouflage" (brown) spray paint with a color that was about as close as one could get and painted a portion
of the sheet. It took 3-4 coats to cover well. Then seperated the paper backing from it after cutting it to the
size I needed.
Then I used some 3M adhesive spray to go over both the metal and paper materials. I applied the paper material
and it stuck very well (have to be accurate when starting as it doesn't work to remove and reposition). The only
problem I had was on the one end that has the extruded metal portion. Here I just tried pressing the paper over
this area pressing down on the corners. The one part resulted in a few cracks and, of course, the part that
probably won't show came out perfectly, I touched it up with another shot of paint and it looks pretty good.
I had used masking tape to prevent paint on areas when I didn't want it.
Last step was to use an Xacto knife and cut out the 4 slotted openings for the band names to show through....
oh yes, one more shot of paint to cover the rough edges on the openings. It isn't as perfect as I would have
liked but looks 90% better than it did.

Thanks again.... Harlan

[gary rabbitt]

Hi Harlan,
Sounds like you did ok.
I agree with Syl about flocking. While it would look nice, it takes a while to get it done right.For a turntable platter it would be worth the time and effort.

A piece of felt or fine velvet cloth from your local JoAnn's will work just fine. Painting with the flat "camo" brown is good too. You aren't going to really see much of the backing plate anyhow when you're done.

The advantage of using the colored cloth is you don't get cracks when you shape it around the raised edges. There are so many fabrics you can pick from at a place like a yardage store or JoAnn's. Check out the home dec department.They might even give you a "Sample" long and wide enough to cover the plate next time

Take care,
Gary.